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May 15, 2025
 

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BOJ

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the government will do all it can to raise wages, particularly for small and midsize businesses, which account for 70% of employment in Japan.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 15, 2025
Japan to target 1% real wage gains within the next five years
The goal is based on the premise that stable and sustainable 2% inflation is in place.
"The Bank of Japan’s stance to continue to raise the policy interest rate is unchanged” given low real rates and the outlook for its price goal to be met, one of the nine board members said at the central bank's April 30 to May 1 meeting, according to a summary of opinions released Tuesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 13, 2025
BOJ still intends to raise rates while monitoring tariffs, summary shows
The written account of the BOJ gathering comes as risk appetite returns to global financial markets following the cooldown in U.S.-China tariff tensions on Monday.
A branch of SMBC Nikko Securities, a unit of Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, in Tokyo
BUSINESS
May 12, 2025
Japan’s megabanks to remain buoyed by BOJ’s long game to hike rates
The central bank stood pat earlier this month after a cycle of rate hikes since March 2024 and halving its economic growth outlook to 0.5% for this fiscal year.
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%, according to the labor ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 9, 2025
Japan’s nominal wage growth slows, backing case for BOJ caution
Nominal cash earnings rose 2.1% from a year earlier, decelerating from a revised 2.7% pace in February and below a median economist forecast of 2.5%.
Former Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda speaks during an interview in Tokyo on April 28.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 7, 2025
Ex-BOJ Gov. Kuroda urges calm response to Trump tariffs
"It's better not to be worked up by every little thing, but to sit down and respond," Kuroda said, referring to frequent changes in U.S. tariff policy.
Both the March jobless rate and the February job-to-applicant ratio rose in Japan, keeping upward pressure on wages as companies try to boost pay to hire and retain workers.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 2, 2025
Japan’s job market stays tight, supporting wage momentum
The jobless rate ticked up to 2.5% in March from 2.4% in the previous month, the internal affairs ministry reported.
The Bank of Japan signals rate-hike uncertainty and slashes growth forecasts amid rising trade and inflation concerns, as the central bank's earlier optimism is upended by U.S. President Trump's tariff moves.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 2, 2025
Bank of Japan will struggle to justify hikes after this
Few anticipated how dovish the BOJ would sound on the future direction of rates or how gloomy it would be on the near-term prospects for achieving the inflation goal.
The Bank of Japan has been signaling caution in the face of uncertainty.
BUSINESS / Economy
May 1, 2025
Bank of Japan holds rates as expected but surprises with growth forecast cut
The policy board made no adjustment to the short-term policy rate, currently 0.5%, at a two-day meeting that concluded Thursday.
Industrial production dropped 1.1% in March compared with the previous month, according to the industry ministry.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 30, 2025
Japan's factory output falls in sign of frailty before tariffs
Industrial production dropped 1.1% in March compared with the previous month, the industry ministry reported Wednesday. Economists had forecast a 0.4% drop.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda. The BOJ is getting into a tough spot between high inflation and a likely economic slowdown.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 28, 2025
BOJ to hit pause on rate-hike path as economic risks mount
Gov. Kazuo Ueda’s board is poised to keep the benchmark rate at 0.5% at the conclusion of the two-day gathering on Thursday, according to all 54 economists surveyed.
There is strong demand for funding from Japanese companies as the economy emerges from years of deflation, and issuers are trying to pinpoint the best time to sell bonds before the Bank of Japan raises interest rates again.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 28, 2025
Revived corporate bond deals in Japan underline need for funding
Volatility is particularly tricky for Japan to navigate given that the market has been less exposed to extreme swings after years of rock-bottom interest rates.
The Bank of Japan will release its quarterly report on the Japanese economy and prices at its two-day policy meeting from Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 27, 2025
BOJ may lower economic and price forecasts
Amid Trump's global trade war, the central bank is also likely to keep its monetary policy unchanged.
U.S President Donald Trump meets with Japan's Ryosei Akazawa, who is in charge of trade negotiations with Washington, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 16.
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Apr 26, 2025
Japan is a test case for Trump's tariff deals. But talks may be tortuous.
While some expect an agreement at the June G7 summit in Canada in June, others say it will be risky for Tokyo to cede ground before Upper House elections expected in July.
"The main message we have on monetary policy is that in times of heightened uncertainty, flexibility and data dependence become paramount,” said Nada Choueiri, the International Monetary Fund’s Japan mission chief, on Wednesday.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 24, 2025
IMF urges BOJ flexibility on rates as tariffs dent outlook
Along with downgraded global growth projections, the IMF's forecast for Japan’s expansion in 2025 was trimmed by 0.5 percentage points to 0.6%.
Amid trade war uncertainty, central bankers, including Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda, are leaning toward cautious policies, with some signaling potential rate cuts while awaiting the fallout from U.S. tariffs.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 22, 2025
Rate cuts anyone? Anyone? Ferris Bueller’s tariff lesson
The collective sense of "we don't know” will give way to either hiking or easing. In Asia, the bias appears to favor the latter.
As the global trade war intensifies, the debt, the main investment for Japan’s life insurers, has seen wild swings along with its U.S. counterparts.
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 18, 2025
Major Japan life insurer to pile into domestic superlong bonds
Investment decisions by Japan’s life insurers can move global markets, and Fukoku Mutual Life Insurance will be the first among its major peers to report such plans.
Unsold bonds are also being covertly peddled at discounted prices, according to several market participants, including investors.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025
Japanese municipal bond deals fail to sell as rate swings surge
This month’s heightened market volatility have also led to delays and cancellations of several Japanese corporate bond offerings.
Consumer prices excluding fresh food rose 3.2% from a year ago in March, accelerating from a 3% increase in the previous month, according to the internal affairs ministry.
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 18, 2025
Japan’s inflation quickens as rice prices gain the most in over 50 years
The price of the nation’s staple grain rose 92.1% in March from a year earlier, the fastest pace in data going back to 1971.
RBC BlueBay Asset Management has shifted to an overweight position in 30-year bonds, as it believes the Bank of Japan may not be in a hurry to raise rates.
BUSINESS / Markets
Apr 18, 2025
BlueBay piles into Japanese bonds, ditching bets on deeper fall
The firm has shifted to an overweight position in 30-year bonds over the past week as the U.S. trade war darkens the economic outlook.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 16, 2025
Trump’s tariffs may spur policy response from BOJ, Sankei reports
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda's policy comments reinforce speculation that authorities aren’t likely to consider a near-term rate hike.
Transport ministry issues warning to Haneda Airport operator
The operator of Tokyo's Haneda Airport has been warned by the government over its inappropriate transactions.
Success of Chinese-made fighter jets against India raises alarm in Asia
Chinese J-10 fighter jets from the People's Liberation Army Air Force August 1st Aerobatics Team perform during a media demonstration at the Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand, in November 2015.
One month on, Osaka Expo urged to boost heat and crowd control measures
A gate to the Osaka Expo site is crowded with visitors on Monday.
Xi defiance pays off as Trump meets most China trade demands
Then-Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits a school in South Gate, California, in February 2012. Experts say Xi won big in his standoff with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Japanese retailers turn to California rice for cheaper alternative
U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Glass eats California rice at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday along with Mitsuko Tsuchiya, vice president of retailer Aeon.
Sumo title contenders already emerging in early stages of Tokyo meet
Onosato (left) battles Abi on Day 3 of the Summer Basho in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Harmfully hot days for pregnant women in Japan nearly doubled over past five years
New research by a U.S. climate scientists’ group reveals that extreme heat has increased the risks of preterm births and other pregnancy complications in Japan, nearly doubling the number of days that are harmfully hot for pregnant women over the past five years.
Japanese automakers looking at a ¥1 trillion hit from Trump tariffs 
Cars on display at Nissan's headquarters in Yokohama on Tuesday. The automaker posted a massive annual net loss and confirmed that it plans to cut thousands of jobs worldwide.
Tokyo Stock Exchange wants stocks to be affordable for the average investor
The Tokyo Stock Exchange building in Nihonbashi. The exchange wants companies to lower the entry cost of investing in their shares.
Consumption tax set to dominate Upper House election debate
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba enters his office in Tokyo on Tuesday.

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